Learning to love working "on the road"

By She  - Teresa Wyckoff 

Our regular "office" this week

Someone asked  

Chichen Itza Ruins and Playa Del Carmen Beaches

by He - Doug Wyckoff 

Chichen Itza:

Chichen Itza is one of the seven wonders of the world and after visiting I can see why. The design of the temple included architecture, mathematics, astrology, acoustics and a calendar that was accurate for over 5000yrs. They were pretty smart people, the ancient mayans.

Playa Del Carmen: 

The beautiful white sand beaches are my favorite, with sugar fine sand that doesn't absorb the heat from the sun so you don't burn your feet when you walk across the beach to the water.

$18 a night, and not at a hostel

Our day job is portable & we consider ourselves digital nomads. Our comedy life also takes us different places and does not require any specific home base. When we "moved" this weekend out of our apartment the goal has been to be with family for the holidays, but the between times to travel and stay places that are cheaper than what we paid per night for rent. 

So our goal was to pay less than $40 a night on lodging.  

We picked Mexico for our first spot to visit as it's inexpensive, we love the food, the weather is amazing, the people are kind and we wanted to see some Pyramid/temple ruins. 

As we were flying standby (space available) we reserved our place at the last minute. We still found a studio apartment, with fast wifi (a necessity!!) and only one block from the beach. The resort next door charges $200-700 a night. We used airbnb.com which is our usual pick for accommodations.

So how is a $18 a night studio? 

Its nice. Simple, basic but hot water shower, AC, small kitchenette, VERY fast wifi and it feels good to lay on the same beach as the resort goers but spending less for one week than they do for one night. It makes us feel like we are getting away with something. 😜 

Earlier today we drove by a hostel I had looked at to stay in, the beds were $15 each online. It was loud music, bad area, 20ish blocks from the beach and not in a great area. Most people go to hostel first when they are on a budget, I don't anymore. It can be a good option through to meet other travelers or if you want to "party". However, it would have been almost twice as much for a dorm bed!

We weren't quite as lucky with our $4 car rental.

The $4 a week rental car?

So when we were booking our car rental for the week in Cancun Mexico we used an online car booking service, checked several actually and these were the prices we found. GREAT DEAL! Right? When I checked it out it said it included MX car insurance & unlimited miles. AMAZING!  

Sometimes things are too good to be true  

Well, as we were walking out of customs we walked by the rental agencies that advertised $175 for a week with insurance included! I laughed, I have such a great deal booked already.... 

After an hour wait, our rental car shuttle picked us up, and then we went to pick up the car. Well, our great deal turned out to be a bit of a bummer when they told us they would only honor the internet price with a $20,000 US deposit or an additional $39 a day on top of insurance.

So that $4 rental would go up to $273. Not a horrible price at all, but not $200. Since it is Mexico, and everything has seemed to be negotiable when I've visited before, we told them the price we were offered at the airport ($175) and he agreed to do it for that price.

 $175 was still a good deal, but not $4 a week good. I felt great for negotiating $100 off, but not so great about really believing I was going to have a rental car for less than a Starbucks drink.

Doug had been teasing me that it was a "too good to be true" deal, and now I'll never hear the end of it.

Thankfully, our accommodations turned out better. 

Grocery Store Stop

This all cost less than 1 USD  & he is happy about it! 

His espresso & pastery pre-breakfast  

Salt Lake City to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico

I hate waking up to an alarm early in the morning but it's worth it for traveling. We woke up at 4:45am to get to the airport early. We like to get there early especially when we are flying on stand by passes. 2-3 hours early most of the time. 

Here we are at SLC waiting for our first flight. We are smiling so you can tell we have had our coffee and tea already. 

About the only time I take sunrise photos is from an airport or plane. Again they happen way to early in the morning for me. 

Our United Airlines flying chariot.  

So stunned to see a sunrise I took one more pic of it. Man they are beautiful. Maybe I should see more of them? Nah. 

The sun rising over the mountains of the salt lake valley. With a plane in the shot because I only do sunrise photos at airports. 

Another airport. The lovely George Bush airport in Houston, Texas. Since United Airlines acquired Continental Airlines they take up a lot of territory at this airport. 

International flight section of the airport. Lots of United planes going all over. 

The best part of flying stand by besides the affordable prices is getting a taste of the high life. First Class baby! We do get looks from people in first class who give you that look of you don't belong here and then since you board first every person sitting in coach walks by and glares at you jealously as you sip champagne and give your food preference choice for dinner to the head flight attendant. 

Surprise first class. It's so worth the dirty looks. 

We made it to Mexico and now we sip drinks at the outdoor bar where it's about 75 degrees still. 

She drank the whole thing. Whooo party girl. The food was good and drinks needed.